Disposable eating utensils and beverage stirrers have come into popular use for parties, picnics, and at fast service eating establishments. Plastic beverage stirrers in the form of a long handled spoon are distributed at fast service eating establishments for use in stirring coffee or other beverages. Such spoons are designed with a relatively small bowl portion suitable for stirring the beverage but, because of its small size, which is on the order of 1/2 inch in diameter, it is too small for conventional eating purposes. Where toothpicks are desired by the customer at such an establishment, separate toothpicks must be provided.
Relatively larger eating utensils have been made in the prior art which include a perforated portion which can be broken out and used as a toothpick. For example U.S. Pat. No. 2,877,547 to Feaster shows a wooden stirring stick the size of a conventional tongue depressor, which has a line of perforation which delineates a toothpick portion which may be broken away from the main portion of the utensil by means of a bending force. Feaster also discloses wooden spoons and forks of a relatively large, usable size, which include similar perforated portions which can be broken out and used as a toothpick. The perforated toothpick portion is wholely confined within the body of the utensil handle and thus Feaster's structure cannot be applied to the plastic beverage stirrers discussed above which have a substantially smaller cross sectional dimension within which it would not be possible to form a wholely confined toothpick portion. In addition, the toothpick will not break away cleanly due to the selvage which bounds the two opposing sides of the toothpick. Finally, in the Feaster structure, only a single toothpick may be provided, so that if a user requires more than one toothpick, a second complete eating utensil must be wasted in the effort to secure a second toothpick.